A viable Christian alternative to the Boy Scouts recently held their inaugural Leadership Convention with over 1,200 in attendance. Here’s the story from CitizenLink:

The inaugural Leadership Convention of Trail Life USA was held in Nashville, Tenn.  More than 1,200 attended last weekend, including former scoutmasters, Eagle Scouts and Boy Scouts of America professionals.  Trail Life USA will be an outdoor scouting organization for boys ages 5-17.  The program will provide young men with adventure, character building events and leadership training from a Christian perspective – and offer them an alternative to the faltering Boy Scouts. …

John Stemberger, chairman of the board for the new organization commented on their plans for the new scouting group:

“Our vision is to become the premier national character development organization for young men, which produces godly and responsible husbands, fathers, and citizens,” he said. Parents are going to love the new outdoor adventure program and we are very excited to be part of this next chapter in the history of scouting in America.”

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Response: With the recent changes allowing gay members and in addition to all of the pressures to make further changes to the Boy Scouts, I expect this new organization to grow exponentially over the next several years. Many church sponsored scouting groups in particular will be looking for alternatives as the lawsuits escalate and continue to plague Boy Scout groups across America.

The next shoes to drop in the Boy Scout camp could be the question of gay leaders and whether to continue to require and support a belief in God.  Further changes along those lines would cause many churches to suspend their sponsorships and relationships with Boy Scouts of America. Trail Life under those conditions would grow even faster than anyone’s greatest expectation.            *Top